


Hunters

by Inu_Sama



Series: BLEACH [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M, Slow To Update, Visored Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 05:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inu_Sama/pseuds/Inu_Sama
Summary: 'Consider the situation thoroughly escalated.' Ichigo thought wryly, his heart rabbiting in his chest as an inhuman growl reverberated through his back and hot breath ruffled the strands of orange hair by his ear.





	Hunters

_Can you hear me, Ichigo? From this point on, you're going to transform completely into a hollow._

_Don't let it eat you, consume it instead._

_Cuz' if you get eaten, that's the end…._

Ichigo blinked open his eyes to the now familiar sight of his Inner World, the skyscrapers a deep blue that stood out against the almost black sky. Despite the lack of any light sources, Ichigo had no trouble seeing. So it came as no surprise when he spotted the Hollow lounging a small distance away.

"Yo! Long time no see, _King~_ " The Hollow purred with a mocking grin, an inverted version of his sword embedded in the concrete beside him. Ichigo felt his fingers twitch with the instinctive need to unsheathe his own sword, but refrained. He didn't want to risk escalating things prematurely just because he was wary. Though just outright attacking the asshole might have been a justifiable response, considering what happened the first time they met.

"Hello," He replied stiffly, gaze flicking around. _Hmmm, he's not here, maybe because this doesn't directly involve him?_ Ichigo thought, a small frown on his face. There was a sudden rush of air and Ichigo automatically tilted his head to the side as a white blade sliced through the air millimeters from his face. The Hollow loomed close, madness in his glowing yellow eyes and a twisted grin on his lips.

"What's wrong? Am I not interestin' enough for ya?" There was a hard edge to the Hollow's words that made Ichigo look at him, _really_ look at him. Something was different, but he couldn't tell what it was. He cocked his head to the side in thought, his monochrome self copying him mockingly. He looked the same, still smelt faintly of burnt cinnamon (Don't ask him how that works, he understood almost nothing about this place) and was still acting like a dick--

His mind snagged on that last bit. _Acting_. That's what was different, the Hollow was more grounded now, less a ball of manic energy hellbent on ripping him to shreds(though whether that was still the goal or not remained to be seen). He felt his lips quirk up just a bit as he met the Hollow's narrowed gaze head on.

"Ah, I wouldn't say that. In fact you're the whole reason I came down here." Ichigo said, poking curiously at the white Zangetsu still hovering over his shoulder. He watched in interest as the surface of the blade rippled like water, a small black spot appearing where his fingers touched.

It smoothed back out into pure white when he pulled back and he wondered if the whole sword would change colour if he held it properly. Could the Hollow do the same with his own? Turn Ichigo's black Zangetsu into a white one? He kind of wanted to find out.

But….now wasn't the time--the Hollow probably wouldn't even agree to something like that anyway. His gaze refocused from his thoughts to find that the Hollow was watching him with an unreadable expression. When their eyes met the pale face twisted back into its usual mocking grin as the Hollow pulled back white Zangetsu to rest it on his shoulder.

"Lil' old me? _Really?_ Tha's a first." The Hollow said in cheery surprise, but Ichigo could feel the weight of those words. _That's a first._ It almost sounded like…

It had never really occurred to him before, just what the occupants of his Inner World did all day when there were no fights. It must get incredibly boring _...no wonder he's mad at me._ Ichigo thought with a grimace.

He'd be spitting mad too if he was left to his own devices in a place like this while everybody else was out living their lives. Now he was here to take his powers from him too, like it wasn't bad enough he took his freedom. God, that made him feel even worse.

"Yeah….sorry about that." he finished lamely. Ichigo couldn't look at him, feeling those eyes burning holes into the side of his face was almost too much as it was.

"But to be honest, you suck at making good first impressions." Ichigo half-joked, scrunching his nose as he finally met yellow eyes again. He was startled by how _angry_ they looked. The mocking grin was gone, replaced by a deep snarl and white Zangetsu was _vibrating_ with KI. Ichigo immediately put some space between them, hand hovering over the hilt of his own version of Zangetsu.

"Jus' who the hell do ya think y'are?! Hah!?" The hollow finally exploded, charging at him with alarming speed. Ichigo had Zangetsu unsheathed and between them before he fully registered what he was doing. The resulting clash of metal on metal resounded violently throughout his Inner World and Ichigo struggled not to be pushed back from the force of it. The Hollow snapped his teeth mere inches from Ichigo's face like a rabid animal as he continued to put all his weight into that first strike.

"Ya think that jus' cuz suddenly you're acting like ya care that I'll wha!? Fall on mah hands and knees and say 'thank ya'?! Tha' I'll submit?!" The Hollow laughed harshly and shoved Ichigo away, the shinigami stumbling to regain his footing.

 **_"Fuck off!"_ ** The Hollow roared, slashing a wordless Getsuga Tenshou (that was also white, by the way) at him. Ichigo countered it with his own Tenshou, the force of the two colliding sent them both flying in opposite directions.

In his rage, the Hollow clawed viciously at the ground to stop his momentum and so he recovered first. Ichigo was seconds away from regaining his footing when a cold hand gripped the back of his neck and slammed him bodily into the ground.

Ichigo grunted in surprised pain both at the blow and the knee now digging into the center of his spine as the Hollow embedded white Zangetsu into the ground right by his head. He could only just see the other's scowling face out the corner of his eye as his cheek was firmly squashed against the cold concrete.

"You were lookin' fer _him_ before, weren't ya? The ol' man…." The Hollow breathed into his ear, making him shiver. God, this Hollow changed subjects like Ishida changed clothes. Though he couldn't deny he was curious.

"Just figured this was a me and you thing, _Hollow-chan~_ " Ichigo laughed bitterly when his face was smashed into the concrete again for his cheek. _Consider the situation thoroughly escalated._ Ichigo thought wryly, his heart rabbiting in his chest as an inhuman growl reverberated through his back and hot breath ruffled the strands of orange hair by his ear.

"Ya think yur real funny, don't cha? Well let me tell ya somethin' _funny_ too; the ol' man's not here cuz' **_I am Zangetsu now._ **" The words were growled right into his ear and he felt a tendril of dread when their meaning and all the implications of such a thing registered in his mind.

"Oh. _Oh._ " That was kind of terrifying, to think that now such a hostile part of himself took up two thirds of his power. But….that also meant that repairing their relationship(did they even have one in the first place?) was all the more important. His friend's lives depended on it. _His_ life depended on it. Ichigo let out a long, grounding sigh and closed his eyes.

"And if you succeed in taking me over too? Then what?" Ichigo asked, his voice surprisingly even as he felt a familiar calm settle over him like a cloak. It was always the way he got when in a bad situation. The worse it was, the calmer he got. He knew it unnerved a lot of the others, but he'd spent so long putting on a brave face that it was ingrained in him to respond to adversary with calm rationality.

"Do you know where we are in the real world right now? If you take over, there are people that won't hesitate to cut you down, they're just like us, what we _could_ be." Ichigo shifted a little more so he could meet narrowed yellow orbs. There was still a ferocity to the glare, but it was different now, less frantic. It gave him the confidence to push on.

"But they're in harmony with their Hollows, which makes them stronger. Even if they couldn't kill you, do you really wanna risk your freedom like that?" The word 'freedom' was probably a poor choice as the scowl deepened - then again, Ichigo was still alive and the Hollow was still listening so it wasn't too bad of a fuck-up on his part.

"They could lock you up, maim you beyond what you could regenerate, experiment on you. I know you're not weak, but there will _always_ people stronger or smarter or quicker. That's just a fact of life." The unspoken _It's something I've accepted, have you?_ hung in the air between them and Ichigo wondered if he was laying it on a little too thick--but if it meant they could work together…

His face was vindictively smashed into the concrete once more before the weight on his back disappeared and white Zangetsu was pulled out of the ground. Ichigo rolled over and sat up, rubbing his poor abused cheek as he looked up to see the Hollow sneering at him. He noted the sword was back in its makeshift scabbard on his back when the Hollow turned around…and started to _walk away_ \--

"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!" He called out, scrambling to his feet unsteadily and automatically sheathing black Zangetsu. He got no answer, but he knew the temperamental asshole heard him because of the sudden tense line of his shoulders.

Ichigo frowned, thoroughly confused as to _what the_ **_fuck_ ** _was happening_ \--he took a calm breath and watched the Hollow's back retreating for a moment before a tick mark appeared on his forehead.

"Does this mean you accept that we have to work together?! Hey!" Ichigo shouted, feeling the first wisps of frustration start to uncurl in his chest at the suddenly unresponsive Hollow. Said dick whirled around and stuck--actually _stuck his tongue out_ immaturely, pointing at him.

" _Fuck_ no! I'm just sick'o hearin' yer voice! Ge'tha fuck outta 'ere 'fore I make good on eatin' ya, idiot!"

And with that Ichigo was forcefully ejected from his own Inner World, the manifestation of his powers flipping him off the last thing he saw before everything went dark.

"What a…. _dick!_ "

Someone laughed and Ichigo's head snapped to the side to see Hiyori doubled over, tears in the corner of her eyes. His own widened in surprise when he took in how _wrecked_ she looked, her jacket discarded and her pants ripped in several places--how much _blood_ she was covered in--even one of her pigtails was undone.

In fact, _all_ of them except Hacchi looked like they'd been through the ringer, a very bloody ringer.

"Ah, sorry?" He scratched the back of his head, the apology sounding more like a question and he saw Shinji crack an incredulous smile. The porno girl just sighed and flopped ungracefully into the dirt, pulling out a magazine that Ichigo pointedly ignored the cover of.

The guy with the starfish hair gave him a lackluster double thumbs up and walked out of the….wherever this was (it looked _suspiciously_ similar to hat&clogs' underground training room) completely while the blond dude smiled placidly at him before following the other guy.

"You can say that again!" The big guy, Hacchi, exclaimed with a tired sigh and the barriers finally collapsed. Ichigo ducked his head, somewhat embarrassed. He knew his Hollow was strong, probably a vasto lorde at the very least but this was….

"You're one scary kid, Ichigo!" Shinji clapped him on the back, trademark toothy grin stretching his lips (though it looked understandably strained) before he pulled the teen to his feet. Ichigo swayed but regained his footing and followed the Visord out of the training room out into the warehouse proper, feeling bone-deep tired like he'd been fighting Kenpachi all over again.

Ichigo groaned when he stretched and several knots in his back popped, making him feel light-headed. Kami, he needed to sleep for the next three days, at the _very_ least. Hollow-chan packed a punch, that was for sure. Speaking of which…

"Shinji…I didn't actually fight him, he hasn't submitted." The whole room became deathly silent but Ichigo kept his gaze on the seeming leader of the Vizards. Shinji sucked in a sharp breath, removing his hand from Ichigo's back like he'd been burned. Before he could realise the loss, Shinji had him by the shoulders tightly, bending down slightly to be at eye level.

"How…how the _fuck_ aren't you dead then? How the….how are you _you?!_ " He whispered frantically, shaking him a little in his distress. Ichigo felt a hysterical laugh bubble up in his throat (because how the FUCK was he supposed to answer that?!) but he stopped himself from releasing it. It probably wouldn't help. In fact, it might make it worse.

"I...logicked him into not eating me?" I asked, brows twisted into an uncertain arch that had Shinji deflating, head bowing until it thumped against Ichigo's shoulder. The hands on his shoulders convulsed before releasing him, though the Vizard didn't lift his head.

"Just... _what the fuck are you, Kurosaki?_ " He murmured with honest exasperation and a pained groan like he was reevaluating the life choices that led him to this point and Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. He laughed, loud and harsh, bitter and more than a little bit hysterical as tears pricked in his closed eyes as the sheer weight of the situation made itself known. Hollow-chan well and truly could have taken him over.

"How the hell should I know?!"


End file.
